SAP Project Manager

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Alaska, +3 more states.

📋 Description

• Oversee the complete delivery of a comprehensive SAP S/4HANA manufacturing transformation across various plants and business divisions.

• Take ownership of the integrated program plan, budget, resource allocation, critical path, and dependencies across multiple workstreams and platforms.

• Direct program activities throughout the Explore, Realize, Deploy phases, including plant-wave rollout, cutover, and hypercare.

• Implement formal scope governance, standard SAP functionalities, clean-core principles, and ensure appropriate evaluation and approval of custom developments.

• Manage the WRICEF backlog, encompassing requirements, prioritization, sizing, governance, and scope validation.

• Lead steering committee meetings and executive governance sessions.

• Prepare decision requests and facilitate the resolution of critical program and design decisions.

• Deliver executive-level reporting on program status, risks, issues, dependencies, and benefits realization.

• Coordinate delivery efforts among business SMEs, IT teams, corporate/global SAP teams, and implementation partners.

• Oversee program risks, issues, assumptions, actions, and dependencies.

• Plan and govern finished-goods Actual Costing parallel runs for plant deployment waves.

• Guide shop-floor cutover, multi-shift hypercare, legacy tool retirement, and transition to operational support.

• Promote organizational change management and adoption initiatives.

• Assist in training, documentation, knowledge capture, and the transition from paper and spreadsheet-based processes.

• Ensure adherence to delivery standards for design approvals, testing strategies, defect governance, and maintain auditable documentation.

• Guarantee compliance with relevant financial controls, including SOX and J-SOX documentation requirements.

• Govern workstreams that encompass Production Planning & Detailed Scheduling, Manufacturing Execution, Quality Management, and Finished-Goods Actual Costing.

• Coordinate integration efforts across SAP S/4HANA, SAP Digital Manufacturing, SAP Business Data Cloud, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP BTP.

⛳️ Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in IT program and project management.

• 5+ full-lifecycle SAP implementations as a Project Manager or Delivery Lead.

• Minimum of 2 SAP S/4HANA implementations.

• Proven experience leading large-scale SAP manufacturing or supply chain transformation initiatives.

• Background in managing multiple functional workstreams and plant deployments.

• Strong expertise in scope governance and minimizing unnecessary customization.

• Demonstrated ability to enforce standard-first delivery under business and stakeholder pressures.

• In-depth knowledge of integrated program planning, critical path management, dependency management, resource allocation, budget oversight, RAID management, executive reporting, and steering committee governance.

• Experience in leading distributed and multi-party delivery teams across various time zones.

• Proficient in coordinating business teams, IT teams, global teams, and system integration partners.

• Experience in leading operational cutovers and multi-shift hypercare.

• Organizational Change Management experience aiding the transition from paper and spreadsheet processes to system-driven operations.

• Experience in developing training strategies and measuring user adoption.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

• Formal Project Management certification such as PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent.

• Strong working knowledge of the SAP Activate methodology.

• Business-level proficiency in Japanese and English is preferred but not mandatory.

• Previous experience delivering SAP programs in Japan or within Japanese manufacturing organizations is preferred.

• Familiarity with Japanese business culture and consensus-building practices is preferred.

• Experience deploying global SAP templates into country-specific operations is preferred.

• Ability to balance global standards with legitimate local business requirements is preferred.

• Familiarity with SAP Digital Manufacturing, SAP BTP, clean-core governance, and SAP Analytics Cloud is preferred.

• Experience in discrete manufacturing industries, including electronics, automotive, or precision components is preferred.

• Background in traceability-driven manufacturing and quality environments is preferred.

• PMI-ACP, SAFe, or SAP Activate certification is preferred.

• Experience in Batch Management and traceability is preferred but not required.

• U.S. Citizens Only.

• Willingness to travel onsite to Japan for 2–3 weeks each quarter.

🏝️ Benefits

• Full-time assignment for 12 months.

• Flexible remote work arrangement.

• Support for interpretation and access to bilingual documentation resources may be available.